Last Day to Catch the Current SelectViews
Our next weekly SQL Server show will post tomorrow – catch the current episode here. Please be sure to check out the SQL Server challenge – we need your help! Also, by taking a stab at the challenge, you could win $200. Need I say more?
Sometimes There are Other Things At Play…
…especially when it comes to figuring out the root cause of performance issues on your systems. Finding out where to focus your work in tuning makes doing that tuning a whole lot more effective. Confio Ignite delivers rapid results for database performance management. You can download, install and begin identifying problems within 30 minutes. Unlike general purpose database performance tools that only count database wide statistics, Ignite identifies the exact Wait-Time impact that each SQL statement has on end user response, and shows specifically how to minimize the delay. Get the inside scoop on your database performance – download a free trial and see what you can learn about your systems. Get more information here.
Webcast: Moving from SQL Server 2000 to SQL Server 2005 Security
We’ll look into the differences between the approaches to security, how they apply to your database, the information you’re managing and tips along the way. There are some strong abilities in SQL Server 2005 and this show will look to explain the differences from the perspective of moving from SQL Server 2000. We’ll compare and contrast and make sense of the updates so you’re ready to move forward.
> Register Now
> Webcast Date: Oct 4, 2007 12:00pm Noon Pacific
Maintenance Thoughts and Issues
Carl wrote in with the things that he’s doing as maintenance – brings up some interesting points.
"I have a variety so to speak. I have several Veritas clustered systems and some stand alone. Each custer has 3 instances of SQL 2000 and a couple of clusters coming on line have SQL 2005. On one instance of the cluster, I have 35 databases. While they are small in size and are related to sharepoint, other instances may have only 10 or so.
Maintenace is sometimes hard as I am not the developer of the databases. The most I can usually do is run the checkdb and send the results to the developers who sometimes are at a loss as to what the numbers mean. Even appying service packs is a trying proess without any kind of test network.
My main tool is the checkdb so to speakm changes cannot be readily made unless there is an outage window.
I usually run the profiler or query analyzer to try and pinpoint any problems on a weekly basis for performance problems. I use scripts to trim down some databases as storage space is tight. Trace files are handled thru 2 scripts, 1 to move them to another folder and 1 to delete after a certain amount of time has elapsed."
I thought it was interesting that Carl is mentioning that it’s tough to maintain the databases as he’s not the developer. I’ve heard this a number of times. There is a separation of DBAs and developers and it’s essentially "hands-off" each other’s work. I’ve even seen cases where the DBA is locked out of the databases built by the application developers… which really struck me as odd and, frankly, dangerous. If you have a DBA on staff, haven’t you decided that you need them to manage and maintain your databases? Doesn’t that suggest backup, recovery, maintenance at a very lowest level, for your databases? If yes, then how do they do that, particulary recovery operations and the account management and security that accompanies that, without proper access?
I just don’t get it.
Featured White Paper(s)
Structuring the Unstructured: How to Dimensionalize Semi-Structured Business Data
The Business Intelligence industry is paying more and more attention to the ever-growing heap of unstructured and semi-struct… (read more)
Proactive Monitoring & Event Management Solutions for Oracle, MS SQL Server, Sybase & DB2 UDB
This whitepaper discusses DBA demands for database availability and the challenges to maintain uninterrupted 24/7 systems wit… (read more)
Build Better Cubes: Real-Life Advice on building Analysis Services Cubes.
Build Better Cubes in Analysis Services. Analyze data from various perspectives. Uncover the insights that you seek while en… (read more)
Replication made simple using SQL Data Compare
Replicating SQL Server databases needn’t be a massive headache. This document discusses how to troubleshoot replication probl… (read more)